Narratives on traumatic lived experiences as pathways to decolonization of gender: A study of vulnerability, risk and agency of Iraq’s Yazidi

Date

2023-7

Author

Acar, Işınsu

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Almost nine years have passed since the Yazidi community of Iraq lived through the latest wave of gross human rights violations in their history. The long-term physical and psychosocial impacts of the genocide in August 2014 were thoroughly explored in parallel to an interrogation of dynamics behind caricatured portrayals of lived experiences. This thesis problematized voices that are left behind and symbolically amplified. Narratives that apply the framework of resistance, empowerment, and recovery were also visited to explore the tension between power and agency and offer a balanced representation of reality. Sources were identified based on a criterion of selected keywords, language, format, political leanings, and quality. The final list of samples included twenty-six news content and thirty academic studies published between 2014 and 2023. Narratives were analyzed through the lens of textual and feminist analysis with particular attention on vocabulary and grammar to identify trends in portrayals, argumentation, and tone. Research findings confirmed reliance on oriental and patriarchal discourses, typically visible through the promotion of female characters as victimized or liberated combatants. Current storytelling practices in media were particularly found vulnerable to a complex set of motives relating to psychology, politics, and security, while academic studies tended to prioritize the needs, aspirations, and well-being of Yazidis by highlighting justice, self-defense, education, technology, art, religion, and social support. These results illustrated the potential of narratives in challenging beliefs, values, interactions, and structures. It suggested engaging with discourses is ordinary magic in the sense of redefining power and encouraging solidarity.

Subject Keywords

Genocide, Yazidi, Orientalism, Empowerment, Recovery

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/104778

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis